The arrival of the first cruise ship to Costa Rica, since the pandemic began, already has a date. This past Thursday, the authorities announced that as of September 1st, these vessels will be able to disembark its passengers on Costa Rican soil.
This, as long as the people on board are vaccinated. For this, vessels must guarantee that 100% of their crew received the injection. At the same time, at least 95% of the passengers must have been immunized.
This was explained by the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Segura, who added that the “first cruise to arrive would be from the Windstar line.” It would arrive in Golfito with approximately 150 passengers on board. This, one day after the maritime borders are opened to this type of ship.
However, only vaccines authorized by the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission will be taken into account. In addition, the last dose of the vaccine must have been given at least 14 days before sailing, he said.
Cruise Lines
The minister added that, for now, nine cruise lines have incorporated Costa Rica into their itineraries. These companies are:
Windstar
Lindblad
Sea Cloud
Seabourn quest
Celebrity millenium
Carnival Pride
Crown princess
Diamond princess
Seven Seas Mariner
Four of them, such as Crown and Diamond Princess, have vessels with an average capacity of 2,500 passengers. In fact, the first one has capacity for 3,000 people. The other five can carry up to 500 passengers.
Big incentive
In the first phase of this reopening, most of the cruises are those with the lowest passenger capacity. At the moment, five of these vessels would be arriving at Limón while the other four at Pacific ports. Segura recalled that, on average, each passenger spends about $ 137 per day.
In addition to a complete vaccination scheme against Covid-19, people on board must complete the epidemiological form called the Health Pass. This, with a period of 72 hours before their arrival in the country.
In the 2019-2020 seasons, 239,566 cruise passengers arrived in the country: 113 ships arrived in the Pacific and 84 in the Caribbean. Due to the pandemic, last year’s season was globally canceled. Precisely, September 1st marks one year from the date that the five marinas established in Costa Rica were authorized to receive private yachts.
